Edward Keenan III ’59

Edward Keenan III ’59 has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and the publisher of Science magazine. A distinguished professor of linguistics at the University of California–Los Angeles, Keenan was selected for “distinguished contributions in several subfields of linguistics including semantics, syntax, mathematical linguistics, language typology, and his work on Malagasy—an Austronesian language spoken in Madagascar. His current research focuses on algebraic invariants of natural language. “I thought about retiring,” he says, “but 15 seconds later realized that I thoroughly enjoy what I’m doing. So I’m going out with my boots on.” Keenan is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to which he was elected 10 years ago.